Feeding device for clothes wringers



April 10, A. ROSS FEEDING DEVICE FOR CLOTHES WRINGERS Filed March 11, 1935 INVENTOR.

BY NH. R055 ATTORNEY.

50 .I have overcome such difiiculties as will herein- Patented Apr. 10, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

The principal object of my invention is to provide an attachment for clothes wringers that automatically feeds clothes or like into and through the wringer pressing rolls, thereby eliminating the possibility of accidentally getting the fingers of the user in the rolls.

A further object of this invention is to provide a feeder for clothes wringers that makes possi-- ble the uniform and even feeding of the material through the wringer pressing rolls.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a feeding device for clothes wringers that may be easily and quickly attached to clothes wringers already in use.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a feeder for clothes wringers that increases the efficiency and output of. a clothes wrmger.

A still further object of this invention is to provide an automatic feeder for clothes wringers that is economical in manufacture and durable in use.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front View of my complete device installed on an ordinary clothes wringer and ready for use.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of my feeder and the clothes wringer to which it is attached, and is taken on line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a top plan View of a corner portion of the device with parts cut away to more fully illustrate its construction.

One of the most difficult tasks connected with the laundering of clothes is the wringing of the clothes, which necessitates the manual feeding of the clothes to the wringer pressing rolls. Great caution must be exercised or the fingers will get caught in the pressing rolls and be badly bruised. This danger is especially present in the modern power driven clothes wringers. Naturally, much valuable time is lost in correctly and carefully feeding the clothes to the wringer rolls.

after be appreciated.

Referring to the drawing, I show my device attached to an ordinary clothes wringer and designate the upper pressing roll by the numeral 10 and the lower pressing roll by the numeral 11. These rolls are each rotatably mounted in the usual frame which I have generally designated by the numeral 12. The top roll 10 and bottom roll 11 are yieldingly held toward each other by the usual springs 13. These two rolls are geared together by the gear 14 of the roll 10 meshing with the gear 15 of the roll 11.

The usual drain board which is a part of the frame of the clothes wringer is designated by the 5 numeral 16. This drain board is positioned di rectly below the two rolls 10 and 11 and extends downwardly and outwardly at each side of its center line, as shown in Fig. 2. The shaft 17 of the roll 10 extends to one side of the frame 12 and it is to this shaft'that a primemover such as a motor or hand crank is operatively connected.

I will now describe my device which is designed to be installed on a clothes wringer such as shown in my drawing and above described. The central or base portion of the frame of my device is designated by the numeral 18. This central portion 18 is designed to rest on the drain board 16 and is positioned when secured to a clothes wringer below the pressing rolls. As shown in so Fig. 2, the member 18 extends downwardly and outwardly to conform with the drain board 16, but extends beyond the side marginal edges of the drain board 16 a considerable distance. The numerals 19 and 20 designate an upwardly turned 5 flange at each end of the member 18 respectively. Secured to each of these flanges is an upwardly extending shield and bearing member 21.

Each of these spaced apart bearing and shield members extends a considerable distance to each side of the rolls 10 and 11 and are notched or cut away near their centers to accommodate the rolls 10 and 11, as shown in Fig. 2. The numeral 22 designates an outwardly and laterally flared guard portion formed on the forward and rear end portions of each of the members 21. These flared guard portions 22 facilitate the guidingof clothes or like onto my device and through the clothes wringer. They also aid in shielding the clothes from certain working parts of my device, v.100 which will presently be explained.

The members 21 may be secured to the flanges 19 and 20 by any suitable meanssuch as soldering, rivets, or like, or if it is desired the portion 18, flanges 19 and 20, members 21 and 22 may be integrally formed by being stamped and pressed from a single sheet of metal. 7

The numeral 23 designates a shaft rotatably mounted in the rear end portions of the two spaced apart bearing and shield members 21.,.

This shaft 23 is positioned parallel with the roll 11 and is substantially spaced to the rear of the roll 11. The numeral 24 designates a cylindrical roller positioned between the two members 21 and on the shaft 23. The numeral 25 designates a shaft rotatably mounted in the forward portions of the two bearing and shield members 21. This shaft is parallel with the roll 11 and is spaced a substantial distance forward of the roll 11, as shown in Fig. 2. The numeral 26 designates a cylindrical roller extending between the two members 21 and on the shaft 25. It will here be noted that the cylindrical rollers 24 and 26 rest in a plane slightly lower than the plane of the roll 11. The numeral 27 designates an endless belt embracing the cylindrical rollers 24 and 26 This belt 2'? may be made of any suitable flexible material and has a width just slightly less than the distance between the two members 21.

To install my device on an ordinary clothes wringer it is merely necessary to remove the rolls 10 and 11 and position my device on the drain board 16, as shown in Fig. 2, and replace the rolls l0 and 11 with the roll 11 between the upper portion and lower portion of the belt 27. With the upper portion of the belt 27 between the rolls l0 and 11 the belt 27 and cylindrical rollers 24 and 26 will be rotated when the shafts 17 is rotated.

Due to the fact that the rollers 24 and 26 rest in a plane slightly below the plane of the roll 11, the upper portion of the belt will extend downwardly and outwardly from the line where it engages the top of the roll 11 and the lower portion of the belt 2'? will clear the bottom of the roll 11.

To use my device it is merely necessary to lay the clothes to be wrung on the rear upper portion of the belt 27 and the belt 2'7 which is traveling forwardly between the two rolls l0 and 11 will carry with it the clothes so placed through the rolls 10 and 11, thereby wringing the clothes. Naturally, as the hands do not closely approach the rolls 10 and 11 there is no danger of the rolls 10 and 11 catching and injuring the fingers of the user. The clothes may be quickly and easily placed on the belt, thereby greatly increasing the 'el'llciency of the clothes wringer and reducing the time now required to wring a batch of clothes. The belt 2'? also permits the user to properly spread out the clothes to be wrung on the belt in order that the clothes will be uniformly and evenly fed through the wringer pressing rolls.

My device may be rigidly secured to the wringer by bolts, clamps 28, or like. The device may be manufactured as standard equipment on clothes wringers to be sold to the general public, or may be made as an accessory for clothes wringers now on the market.

From the foregoing, it will readily be seen that I have produced a highly desirable feeder for clothes wringers'of the pressing roll type.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my improved feeding device for clothes wringers without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

1. In combination with a clothes wringer having two pressing rolls, a frame portion adapted to be secured to the wringer, two cylindrical rollers rotatably mounted in said frame and positioned in spaced relationship at each side of the pressing rolls, respectively, an endless flexible belt embracing said cylindrical rollers and having its upper portion passing between said two pressing rolls, and an outwardly flared guard portion at each end of each of said cylindrical rollers.

2. In combination with a clothes wringer having two pressing rolls, a frame portion adapted to be secured to the wringer, two cylindrical rollers rotatably mounted in said frame and positioned in spaced relationship at each side of the pressing rolls, respectively, an endless flexible belt embracing said cylindrical rollers and having its upper portion passing between said two pressing rolls, an outwardly flared guard element at each end of each of said cylindrical rollers, and a drain board extending below said pressing rolls rigidly secured to said frame portion; said drain board extending downwardly and outwardly from a longitudinal line directly below the said pressing rolls.

3. In combination with a clothes wringer having two pressing rolls, a frame portion adapted to be secured to the wringer, two cylindrical rollers rotatably mounted in said frame and positioned in spaced relationship at each side of the pressing rolls, respectively, an endless flexible belt embracing said cylindrical rollers and having its upper portion passing between said two pressing rolls, an outwardly flared guard element at each end of each of said cylindrical rollers, and a drain board extending below said pressing rolls rigidly secured to said frame portion; said drain board extending downwardly and outwardly from a longitudinal line directly below the said pressing rolls and to points below said cylindrical rollers.

4. In a device of the class described, a side frame portion, a second side frame portion, a

drain board extending between said two side portions and rigidly secured at each end to the lower portions of said side portions respectively, two spaced apart cylindrical rollers rotatably mounted in said side portions and extending between 

